Another Basement Find

So, I've written here before about finding some good books in a box in the basement. Well, I'm still cleaning out the overstuffed storage space in the house, and this past weekend I found a real treasure: Wally Pleasant's Houses of the Holy Moly. I haven't heard this music since (my restless) college years, and I couldn't wait to try the tape in an old boombox. It worked.

Yup, a tape that had sat in a box in the basement for 6 years (the box was labeled 2002) worked, and I sat back and took a break from housework on a Sunday afternoon and listened to some wonderful, funny old songs, like "Stupid Day Job," "Dysfunctionally Yours," and "I'm Nice." It really took me back....

To 1996, when I was first introduced to the music of Wally Pleasant by a coworker who was also nice enough to copy the Holy Moly CD onto a tape for me. A few nights later, I went with a bunch of my coworkers to a bar at 9 Mile and Woodward where Wally was playing. We tossed back a few (too many) brews, and enjoyed an evening of comedic college alt-rock-folk. It was something normal to do, when you're 22....

Listening to this tape, it seems that Wally really captured something of those years. It felt good to hear it again. I wonder if I'll ever find the Wally Pleasant CDs I bought in the late 90s? I think they died in the car accident, though...

If you want, you can check out some samples of Wally Pleasant's music here. It's definitely worth a look.

Zoos

Last week, I took my older daughter (she's almost 5) to the zoo. That was an experience.

She's old enough now to start learning a bit about the animals, instead of just ooh-ing and ahh-ing at them, so as we walked through the zoo, bundled up in our coats, I told her some interesting facts about the animals we saw, and she told me what she knew about them.

"Daddy, a zebra can run very, very fast."

"An elephant nose is a trunk, so an elephant eats with his nose."

"If a snake bites you, you'll get blood, and it will hurt."

And of course, she had questions:

"Daddy, what is that baby camel doing?"

"It's nursing. Its mother is giving it milk."

"You mean like Mommy gave me milk, and gave my little sister milk?"

I was pretty impressed that she realized that it was the same thing, and I told her so. She's a smart cookie, that kid. As we started down the path, we heard a rooster crowing, but couldn't find it. Eventually we realized that it was up in a tree. Neither of us had ever seen a chicken in a tree before, so we sat on a bench and watched it for a while, until it flew down to get something to eat. Neither of us had ever seen a chicken fly before, either, but we have a pet bird at home, so my daughter knew all about flying birds. She told me how the chicken used its feathers to fly down. I'm just glad she didn't ask why it was in the tree in the first place.

All in all, it was a pretty great day.

Scavenger Hunting at the Grocery Store

So I took my daughter, the four year old, to the grocery store yesterday. I was getting ready to head walk over (it's right across the street), and she was begging to come with me. So, I let her come. And did not reget it.

To start with, she was on her good behavior. She listened to me, she did what I asked her to, she helped to push the shopping cart, and she even helped to find groceries.

That last was part of a scavenger hunt. As Dad, I held the list and navigated us through the store. As the scavenging hunter, she looked on the shelves for the items I told her we needed next. It actually was a workable system.

Some things were easy. Noodles, for example, were very easy for her to find. She loves them, and recognized them right away. She even knew which shapes I should buy.

Oatmeal was a little harder. She knows the Quaker Oats container, but it was buried in the cereal aisle. She had to look down the shelves on both sides, twice, before she found it. She wanted the really huge size, but we only needed the smaller one.

She couldn't find grated cheese. I have to admit; that one was the "trick question." It was at the cheese counter, and was grated fresh for each customer. I held her up, so she could see what the cheese counter lady was doing. They both liked that.

We went through the whole store that way, and she managed to find about two thirds of the items on our list. I was pretty impressed with her. Normally, she's not so well behaved at the grocery store, but this time, with something important to do, in a fun way, everything worked out just fine.

Heck, even I had fun.

The Second Poker Night - Poker night, revisted

We did it again. Us guys got together for another poker night. Well, euchre night, anyway, since we didn't want Wade to win again, and there were only four of us this time, but you get the idea.

Anyway, the card game didn't go to well; no one really wanted to play. So we put Rambo on the DVD and turned on Wade's flat screen LCD TV. I tell you, that guy's got too much money. Maybe I'll get a sex change, marry him, and divorce him, just to finish paying off my house...

Well, not really.

Anyway, about halfway through the movie, we got bored with it, so we went out to the yard, beers in hand, and got some baseballs and gloves out of the shed. Honestly, I don't remember the last time I played pickle. I just feel glad that I still remember how to field and throw. So while we're out there in the backyard, tossing the ball around, Erik says that some guys from his work are looking to put together a softball team and enter the city league, and did we want to join, 'cause there weren't enough players in his department.

It didn't take long for us all to agree. I had a voice mail from him this morning, that the first practice game is next Sunday, and the first regular game is next Tuesday night, at the Civic Center. Apparently, there's only 9 guys on the team, so no one is allowed to miss a game.

And for the next few months, we'll have baseball night instead of poker night.

Driving at Night

I used to go driving.
Doesn't sound special, but it's something I would do, years ago, from the time I got my license at 17 until I was about 24. I would go out at night, mostly in the spring or summer, and get in the car, and go. To this day, I am not completely certain why I did it.
I do know that I got a feeling of deep calm when I was on the freeway late at night, with no other traffic, and just the dashboard lights on my face. My old car had good suspension; I felt like I was floating down the road.

Sometimes, I would set the cruise control and let my mind drift, keeping just enough focus to follow the curves. If it was a cold night, I would turn on the vent, but usually I'd just crack the window. Sometimes, especially in spring or fall, there was a night-mist on the road. Those were the times I liked the driving best.

I can't do that anymore; I'm grown up; responsible. A husband and a father. But there are nights, when the baby gets colicky and can't sleep, that I do the only thing that helps: I get her in the car seat, and I drive out onto the freeway. It only takes 20 minutes, but it works every time.

I don't know if any of this is fun, but in my introspective moods it does help to bring back that sense of peace. It's getting late now, and the baby is crying. I have to find my keys.